The White House has given an official response to the petition to deport CNN host Piers Morgan over his support for gun control, cautioning gun advocates to "Remember The First Amendment".
In a statement from White House Press Secretary Jay Carney, entitledWhen Discussing the Second Amendment, Keep the First in Mind Too he said: "Americans may disagree on matters of public policy and express those disagreements vigorously, but no one should be punished by the government simply because he or she expressed a view on the Second Amendment - or any other matter of public concern."
"President Obama believes that the Second Amendment guarantees an individual right to bear arms.
Piers Morgan and Alex Jones on CNN
"However, the Constitution not only guarantees an individual right to bear arms, but also enshrines the freedom of speech and the freedom of the press -- fundamental principles that are essential to our democracy.
"We recognise that the tragedy in Newtown, Connecticut, sparked an intense, and at times emotional, national conversation about the steps we can take as a country to reduce gun violence.
"In fact, your petition is one of many on the issue, and President Obama personally responded by sharing his views on this important issue."
The White House posted a video with Barack Obama, addressing the issue of gun control.
Earlier this week, Morgan invited Alex Jones, the right-wing gun advocate who began the petition, on to his CNN show.
Jones blamed so-called "megabanks" and "murder pills", alongside Morgan himself, for conspiring to take away America's guns.
"Hitler took the guns, Stalin took the guns, Mao took the guns, Castro took the guns, Chavez took the guns and I'm here to tell you, 1776 will commence again if you try to take our guns!"
Both have responded on Twitter to the White House decision:
Jones, who runs the Infowars site, has, since the interview, posted a bizarre video rant, where he claimed an undercover NYPD operation was trying to kill him.
His fierce response to Morgan was also skewered by Jon Stewart on The Daily Show on Tuesday night, which devoted a segment to gun control.
Playing a clip from Morgan's interview with Jones, Stewart concluded: "Their paranoid fear of a possible dystopic future prevents us from addressing our actual dystopic present.
"We can’t even begin to address 30,000 gun deaths that are actually in reality happening in this country every year because a few of us must remain vigilant against the rise of imaginary Hitler.”